Web Credibility and Stickiness of Content Web Sites

This research-in-progress paper investigates what makes users of content Web sites stick to these sites. Realizing that information on the content Web site is the product being offered, we integrate the view that Web is a medium with customer royalty and customer retention literature. Drawing from social presence theory, social response theory, customer retention literature, and information systems success literature, we propose that usability, information quality, Web credibility, and emotional satisfaction are antecedents to Web stickiness. We further investigate the relationship between social presence and emotional satisfaction and propose that online features such as Q&A, discussion forums, message boards, self-test, personalization, and image improve emotional satisfaction through improved social presence perception. We plan to test our results using health information Web sites.